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At this age the most important outcome of a training session is that it should be fun fun fun. A coach should:

Be enthusiastic

Spark children's imagination with stories and fun games

Encourage children

Priorities for a training session are:

Children should be working with their own soccer ball for the majority of the session. Many touches on the ball mean lots of learning.

Try to keep all the children active unless taking a drink break. Long explanations and technical and tactical advice should be avoided.

Fun games should start with a simple explanation, be progressed every 2 or 3 minutes and last no longer than 10 minutes. Move on to another game to keep their attention. If they love one game so much, it is something for them to look forward to next week.

Discourage the use of the toe for dribbling and kicking. Demonstrate alternatives.

End every session with a scrimmage.

1 Simon Says

This can be used as a simple warm up game if the coach is still waiting for one or two children to arrive. Each child has a ball and the coach calls out instructions for them. They should only perform those instructions that begin with "Simon says..." The coach can demonstrate some soccer skills for the children during this game

2 Traffic Lights

Set out a square approximately 10 yards by 10 yards for 6-8 children, 15 yards by 15 yards for 10-12 children. Children pretend to be cars and dribble their soccer balls within the square. When the coach calls out "red light" the children must stop their ball with the bottom of their foot. When the coach calls "green light" they may dribble again. Encourage children to use the inside and outside of their feet, no toes!

Progression 1. Introduce yellow light. This can be used to make the children change direction, do 6 toe taps or shuffle the ball between their feet. Anything the coach wants to work on.

Progression 2. Changes of speed. Coach can call out different roads to encourage children to speed up or slow down. "On the freeway" can be used for going fast, "Country road" for a slow jog and "Around town" for walking carefully with the ball.

Progression 3. Coach holds up green, yellow or red cones whilst moving around the square, instead of calling out. This requires the children to use observation skills and encourages them to keep their head up

3 Out For Dinner

This game can be used as a progression of traffic lights or as a separate game. Again set out a square of cones, but this time make the corners different colors. Ask the children to call out their favorite restaurants. MacDonald's could be the yellow corner, Burger King red, Wendy's green and KFC blue. Get the children to dribble around the square then the coach will call out a restaurant. The children should dribble as quickly as they can to that corner.

4 Animal Adventure

Set up a square of cones 10 yards by 10 yards and each child has a ball. Ask children to suggest 3 animals, one that is slow (elephant or hippo maybe), one that is average (deer or horse) and one that is fast (cheetah). Coach calls out the name of an animal and children should dribble slowly, medium pace or fast depending on the animal.

Progression 1. Coach becomes a poacher and tries to steel the children's soccer balls. If the coach manages to kick a player's ball out of the jungle (the square of cones) that child must fetch their ball, return to the jungle and complete a forfeit before rejoining the game. The forfeit can be any simple skill the coach wishes them to practice.

5 Body Parts

Set up a square of cones 10 yards by 10 yards and each child has a ball. Children dribble around the square and when the coach calls out a part of the body the children must stop the ball with that body part. Use "foot", "knee", "elbow", "nose", "ear", "head", "stomach" or any other appropriate part of the body. Remember to encourage the children to dribble into space using the inside and outside of their feet, no toes!

6 Star Wars

Place as many 10 inch pointed cones as you have randomly in a small area no bigger than 15 yards diameter. These pointed cones are Empire Star Destroyers! Most of the children will pretend to be X-Wing fighter pilots. They will each have a ball and their objective is to dribble their soccer ball to knock over and destroy all the Star Destroyers (pointed cones). You may encourage them to hold their arms out straight and make noises when they knock over a cone. In competition with the X-Wing fighter pilots will be Darth Vader and the Sith who have the power to bring Star Destroyers back to life. Ask one or two of the children to volunteer for this. Darth Vader and the Sith run around and stand up any knocked over cones. Rotate the children so that they all get to play Darth Vader and the Sith.

Begin to encourage use of the inside of the foot to push the soccer ball into the cone to knock it over.

7 Mud Monsters

Set up a square of cones 10 yards by 10 yards and each child has a ball. Inside the cones is a swamp and the children must try to dribble their ball in this swamp. Inside the swamp, however, are mud monsters that don't like boys or girls playing soccer in their swamp. It is a good tip for the coach to play the mud monster for the first game so that the children understand the rules and the coach can allow less able players more time and space. The chosen mud monsters should run around the swamp and try to kick any soccer balls out of the swamp. If a child has their soccer ball kicked out of the swamp they should go and retrieve it, come back into the swamp and hold it above their head. They must now shout, "Help I'm stuck!" They can only carry on dribbling around the swamp when another player dribbles and passes their own ball through the legs of the "stuck" player. The game finishes after 60-90 seconds or when all players are stuck, then change mud monsters.

8 Siamese Twins

Set up a rectangle of cones 15 yards by 10 yards. All balls except one should be left outside the area. Divide the children into pairs. They should hold hands with their partner and move around inside the area. The coach starts with a ball and dribbles around the area then tries to pass the ball to hit the ankles of any pair of children. If hit, both players should go and find a ball outside the area then come in to help the coach strike the ankles of any remaining players. Play until the final pair is left.

This is a great progression from some of the previous games as now the players with the ball must dribble and pass at moving targets. Coaches need to make sure that the balls are being kept on the floor, emphasize using the inside of the foot only to strike the ball.

9 Beach Crabs

Set up a rectangle of cones 15 yards by 7 yards. This will be the beach. On one side of the beach is the ocean with sharks; on the other side are sharp rocks. Each child has a ball and they should try to dribble their soccer ball from one end of the beach to the other without going onto the rocks or into the ocean. On the beach, however, there are giant soccer ball eating crabs. Generally start with the coach acting as the fist crab. Crabs are sat down and can only move if they keep their hands and feet on the floor. They can't crawl on hands and knees or get up and run. The crabs' aim is to either kick any of the children's balls into the ocean or onto the rocks, or steel the soccer ball between their claws (their feet). If a child who is dribbling their soccer ball loses it to a crab or has it kick into the ocean or onto the rocks then they become a crab. Play until there is only one player not turned into a crab.